Kulwinder Kaur Housewife: "I have two daughters and my mother-in-law is threatening to get another wife for her son if I don’t have a boy.I got an abortion done last year when the scan showed it was a female foetus. This time I have been lucky."

Simran College Lecturer: I have one girl and cannot afford to have another daughter. It’s so difficult to marry them off as boys demand hefty dowries. I have undergone five abortions at a private nursing home as all of them were female foetuses. I may not be able to conceive again."

Kashmiri Devi Housewife: "I’ve two daughters, after which I had four abortions because the foetuses were female. Now, I want to have a son of my own so that he can take care of us in our old age."

Satinder Kaur Wife of a landed farmer: "I have one daughter, and I know that if I don’t have a son soon my status in the family will come down.